Ducks Finish Sixth At PING/ASU Invitational

Sunday, March 26

Phoenix, AZ

All Day

University of Oregon

PING/ASU Invitational

03/26/23 | Women's Golf

Results

PHOENIX — The Oregon women's golf team placed sixth at the 2023 PING/ASU Invitational after closing the weekend with a 7-over 295 on Sunday at Papago Golf Course.

The No. 5 Ducks finished the tournament at 11-over par. No. 23 Northwestern won the team title at 18-under par.

How it Happened: Oregon's top performer on Sunday did not count towards the team score, as junior Minori Nagano carded a 2-under 70 while competing as an individual. Nagano finished under par for the first time as a Duck, fueled by three straight birdies on holes 13-15.

Freshman Anika Varma was the top Duck on the leaderboard in a tie for 11th overall at 1-over par, earning her first career top-20 finish. Varma posted Oregon's best counting score of the final round with a 1-over 73, making three birdies.

Oregon's counting scores were rounded out by a trio of 2-over 74s from Ching-Tzu Chen, Hsin-Yu (Cynthia) Lu and Brittany Shin.

Team Leaderboard (top 10 teams shown):
1. #23 Northwestern – 282-282-282 – 846 (-18)
2. #11 Arizona State – 295-277-288 – 860 (-4)
3. #14 Baylor – 290-287-290 – 867 (+3)
4. #6 Mississippi State – 290-288-290 – 868 (+4)
5. #8 Texas – 294-290-286 – 870 (+6)
6. #5 Oregon – 290-290-295 – 875 (+11)
7. Kansas – 302-289-286 – 877 (+13)
T8. Michigan State – 301-284-297 – 882 (+18)
T8. Oregon State – 295-295-292 – 882 (+18)
10. #13 USC – 301-292-290 – 883 (+19)

Ducks on the Leaderboard:
T11. Anika Varma – 73-71-73 – 217 (+1)
T21. Minori Nagano* – 73-76-70 – 219 (+3)
T27. Ching-Tzu Chen – 71-75-74 – 220 (+4)
T30. Briana Chacon – 71-72-78 – 221 (+5)
T50. Hsin-Yu (Cynthia) Lu – 78-72-74 – 224 (+8)
T57. Brittany Shin – 75-77-74 – 226 (+10)
*Competing as an individual

What It Means: The Ducks weren't able to replicate their success at the last two PING/ASU Invitational events – they won in 2021 and placed second in 2022 – but got valuable experience playing on the course that will host the Pac-12 Championships next month. Oregon was without their top performer so far this season in junior Ashleigh Park, but got quality showings from both Varma and Nagano, an important development as head coach Derek Radley and assistant Monica Vaughn work to identify their best five-player lineup with postseason approaching.

Notable: Nagano led Oregon with 12 total birdies, tied for third-most in the field … Varma and Nagano both shot 1-under par on par-4 holes for the tournament, and Nagano was a team-best 3-under par on par-5s … Lu was UO's top performer on par-3 holes at even par.

Up Next: Oregon will co-host the Silverado Showdown with Colorado on April 3-5 in Napa, Calif., its final regular-season tournament before going back to Papago Golf Course for the Pac-12 Championships on April 17-19.

Prior to Silverado, Chacon and Lu will fly to Augusta, Ga., for the Augusta National Women's Amateur (March 29-April 1), and Chen will go to Palos Verdes, Calif., to compete in the LPGA's DIO Implant LA Open (March 30-April 2).